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Monday, September 26, 2016

Despite there being hundreds of varieties of bladed grass found in the Americas, almost all (99% of them) can be eaten. This ranges from wheat, oats, and bamboo to the wild meadow varieties.

The young shoots up to 6 inches tall can be eaten raw and the starchy base (usually white and at the bottom when you pluck it) can be eaten as a trail nibble. The more mature the grass plant gets, the more fibrous the plant becomes. For older plants the base can be chewed and spit out — extracting the beneficial juices in the process. Or a tea can be made from the fresh or dried leaves.

The best part of the grass plant to eat are the seed heads, which can be gathered to make millet for breads or filler for soups & stews. Of the 99% that can be eaten raw, about 1% have toxic seeds and require that you roast or cook the seeds first.

Ergot fungus

As a word of caution, stay away from blackish or purple colored grass seeds. This is a good indication of toxic fungus. Just make sure they are green or brown. Also use common sense when gathering. Don’t gather where there has been recent spraying of weed killer.

Ergot: Dark-purple or black grain kernels, known as ergot bodies, can be identifiable in the heads of cereal or grass just before harvest. In most plants the ergot bodies are larger than normal grain kernels, but can be smaller if the grain is a type of wheat. A larger separation between the bodies and the grain kernels show the removal of ergot bodies during grain cleaning.Stay Prepared! Stay Alive!Charlie

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Here is another way of finding direction. You will need a thin straight stick, the current time and month, the sun, and a compass rosette template that you can print out here.

First, print out a copy of the compass rosette. You can print it on regular paper, but card stock paper makes a better tool.

If there is enough sun to cast a shadow, place the rosette compass paper on a flat piece of ground. It must be as very near to horizontal as possible.

Now note the current time and push your stick though the corresponding position on the ring of dots labeled 4 through 20.

For example, if the current time is 3:30 in the afternoon that will translate to 15:30 on a 24-hour clock. Place your stick through the ring of dots halfway between the numbers 15 and 16. Be sure that the stick is as vertically straight up and down as possible.

Now rotate the compass rosette around, keeping the stick in place, until the shadow of the stick crosses the middle line at a point corresponding with the current month.

Your compass rosette is now oriented to north - South.

Although in an emergency survival situation you are unlikely to have this compass rosette handy, it does illustrate there are many ways to accomplish the same goals.

Make several of these rosettes and put them in your survival kits, bug-out bags, vehicle, boat, etc. Print them about 5" x 5". You can go smaller, but it makes it harder to line up the shadow.Click compass rosette to download a printable version.